Winner Takes All
by Baconandeggers
Summary: After wrecking her father-in-law's car in another impromptu street race, Anna is sent to live with her father in Germany. There, she finds the competition is much more steep, and the prizes much more worthwhile. Elsanna, no incest, modern street-racing AU.


**A/N: This will be a fluffy, fun story with short chapters and no death. Based on Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. Unbeta'd.**

* * *

"Anna Helga Sorenson!"

Her mother stormed into the principal's office, her red-faced husband trailing quickly behind her. Anna swallowed hard; she was in trouble now.

"Please, Miss Sorenson. Sit."

"It's Mrs. Foster, please," she retorted sharply. Her anger was palpable, and even the stoic Principal Liu visibly flinched at the barb in her words. Anna sunk deeper into her seat, and pulled the hood of her sweater further over her face.

"Mrs. Foster. I must remind you that this isn't the first time Anna has been involved in incidents on school grounds recently. There were the two altercations with young Weselton..."

"He was harassing my friends and I!" Anna blurted out, eyes wild and defiant. She had punched him in self-defense. Honest.

Her mother shot her a cool glare, and Principal Liu continued on without pause.

"In which, fortunately, no charges were laid. We should have expelled her for that, but considering it was her first offense we decided to be lenient."

Anna pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. When the school system had failed to protect her, she had taken matters into her own hands. What else was she to do?

"And then the skipping of classes. We spoke with Anna about this, but we've seen little improvement. It's a shame considering her marks are so high."

Anna flushed. If her marks were so high, why was her attendance such a crucial issue? She chewed on her lip, annoyed.

"And now we find out that she's skipping those classes to street race with other students. A dangerous, and reckless activity. Today she damaged not only her vehicle, but another student's whose parents are not impressed. They are fortunate they were not killed."

Anna heard her mother gasp, and saw her father-in-law turn his head slowly to her. His teeth were bared, and he looked every bit a savage animal, ready to rip her to pieces.

"You damaged my Charger?" His voice was monstrous, loud and vicious. He slammed his fist down on the desk, startling everyone in the room. "The '78 Charger I restored and was kind enough to let you drive today?"

Mr. Foster stood abruptly and left the office with a slam of the door. Principal Liu fidgeted in his seat while her mother closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

Anna felt bad about his Charger; she had meant to show it off, to win the race, but things got out of hand too quickly. She learned the hard way that the old beast just did not have the turning capability that she needed from it at that speed, and drove it headlong into a bystander's parked Civic.

At least she was safe and sound, right? Anna scowled. "I'm not hurt, you know. You should feel lucky."

Her mother's eyes snapped open. "Lucky?" she breathed, looking at her daughter in disbelief. Anna immediately regretted her choice in words.

"Lucky?" she repeated, her voice rising. "Why should I feel lucky that my deviant child is acting out in ways that are costing me not just money, but my sanity? The gay thing was bad enough -"

Anna rolled her eyes. Always back to that; it was as if her mother thought it a personal attack that she preferred chicks to dudes.

"- and now fighting and street racing. This is your father's fault you know, treating you like a son instead of a daughter."

Anna scrambled quickly to her feet and growled. Just because her mother viewed her father as a degenerate, didn't mean that she had to agree. "He treated me like a person!"

"He let you get away with murder!"

"He let me live how I wanted to! He didn't force your heteronormative bullshit down my throat!"

Anna's mother rose then, raising her finger and wagging it furiously. "You will not use that language, missy! Not at home, not here!"

"I will speak how -"

"Ladies..." the nervous man behind the desk tried meekly to interject. "Perhaps this conversation is best had somewhere else. Anna will not be expelled as graduation is three weeks away, so long as this behavior ceases immediately."

"Oh it will, Principal Liu," Anna's mother assured him. The older woman straightened her posture and set her jaw; her frigid expression made Anna shift between worry and contempt.

"Anna will finish the school year without any more ordeals," she continued, then looked pointedly at the young girl. "And once she has graduated, I think it's about time her father dealt with her for a while."

Anna blinked, and then narrowed her eyes. What was her mother getting at?

"After you graduate, you'll be going to University in Germany. You can stay with your father; he can pay for your childish behaviors. You have broken my trust, you have broken Derek's trust, and you will not be staying with us while you continue to disrespect us so."

Anna opened her mouth to retaliate, but her mother cut her off.

"That's final."

* * *

True to their word, the school did not expel her, instead letting her graduate with her classmates; and true to her mother's word, as soon as her academic success was confirmed, her bags for Germany were packed for her.

Every time Anna tried to explain herself, to justify her behavior, her mother simply walked away.

"I didn't mean to crash it!"

"It was just for fun!"

"Do you know how much money I would have gotten if I had won?"

Her mother sighed and squeezed at a stress ball, the poor foam tool crumbling from overuse.

"Anna, I don't care."

Anna stomped like a petulant child, despite having just turned eighteen and becoming legally more competent than a toddler. "Maybe if you did care, none of this would have happened!"

Her mother gaped at her. "Are you blaming me for this?!"

"You pushed me into therapy when I told you I was gay. I never felt -"

"I did that to help you!"

"I never felt -" Anna repeated. "- like you liked me here after that. It didn't feel like a home anymore. You got so critical over everything. You gave me no privacy, no freedom! You hovered over me every moment!"

Her mother groaned. "No, you are not blaming this on me, Anna. Just because I didn't want you to be gay, to have to fight with boys because they want to call you a dyke -"

"You put me through therapy to protect me? Bullshit!"

"Enough!" Anna's mother yelled, halting the fight. "Enough," she said again, more softly. "No matter what you think, I did what I had to, and you threw it in my face. There's no more discussing it. Grab your bags and get in the car."

Anna was furious, but obeyed, raging off to her room to gather her belongings and throwing them unceremoniously into the SUV. Derek stood in the garage all the while, surveying the remaining damage of his smashed Charger after three weeks of tender repair. He did not wave goodbye when they departed.

The drive itself was quiet, with tension so thick she thought she would choke. She had so much left to say, so much more blame to lay at her mother's feet; but she bit her tongue, confident it would only make the tension more toxic.

When they parted at the airport, the hug they shared was stilted, merely polite at most - like all their interactions had been for years now, as they grew more distant with time and Anna's growing individuality.

She was glad to leave.


End file.
